"FBI officials coordinated with nearly a dozen countries to squelch two cyber gangs that netted $74 million by downloading viruses onto more than 1 million victims' computers and then threatening to erase their hard drives unless they purchased pricy fixes.

The shakedown on purveyors of "scareware" is one of several recent law enforcement efforts to nab the leaders of cyber crime rings by obtaining financial clues from overseas accounts through international cooperation, security experts say.

The nature of the Internet makes it hard for authorities to attribute computer crimes to specific individuals. Offenders exploit the anonymity of the Web to hide their true identities and use various foreign servers and bank accounts that are outside U.S. law enforcement's jurisdiction."